Spreading Myself Too Thin

Before publishing anything, I will write draft after draft after draft. Rarely does something get written in one sitting and then put out. I will stir topic ideas around in my brain for days before I act on them, emailing myself tidbits, links, and angles. I have more than 40 drafts of posts sitting in the queues of my blog networks – and there are more than a few of them.

The obsession is not just before the content is created. After I push a piece, I can’t just let it lie. I analyze the traffic, I will re-edit the copy, I will tweak the layout. I am never really “done.”

My efforts are spread across a diverse genre of websites, not to mention the “real job” I have hosting the top rated midday program on XL 103. I fully subscribe to people picking up freelance work when that work doubles over what they are already doing. If you can work once and get paid twice, you come out ahead. This tv assignment, however, was just taking up too much time.

My parenting blogs are easy to write because they flow from the stories of life with my kids. The tech stories, however, have been harder to create of late. It’s just a little beyond my sphere of expertise. I’m not spending 40 hrs a week playing with gadgets, reading trades, and analyzing announcements and rumors. While I understand the world of social media and technology, trying to come up with effective segments for the tv show was becoming more difficult and taking up too much of my brain.

I would stress about the segment beforehand, and watch it afterwards criticizing myself for missing key points, or stumbling through explanations. It didn’t make sense. I had a week to create a 4 minute segment, but I couldn’t do it without getting anxious.

So this week I tendered my resignation to Global Calgary to end my Sunday morning stints at the desk with Reid Fiest and Bindu Suri on the Sunday Morning News.

The last one was a thrill, because of renovations on set, I got to suit up and sit behind the big desk where the 6 o’clock news is read and where ‘the magic happens.’

I love being on television, I honestly believe that’s where my career arc will eventually end, but I had to make a choice and this was not the right assignment at the right time.

This is the second time I’ve decided to leave a great tv gig. The first was walking away from Daytime on Rogers Cable. It eventually became Urban Rush for Shaw, and is now known as The Rush. Before it was Fiona Forbes and Mike Eckford, it was Fiona and Buzz.

Those two did just fine without me, celebrating more than 15 years together and growing a “little cable talk show” into a national brand.

I look forward to being in front of a camera near you again soon. In the meantime, I’m still behind a mic and keyboard.

We hear so much about “Say YES to everything!” that we can take on too much. But when dread replaces excitement, well, it’s pretty clear you’re okay to let go of that. And it’s pretty clear “following your gut” works for you, Buzz.
Love what you say about writing. As a professional freelance writer, I worry over every word that goes out into the world with my name attached to it. I can’t even post three sentences on Facebook without writing and reading and rewriting and rereading for 30 minutes! Can you read your stuff once it’s published? Ah, the torment if there is a mistake!

Just found your blog (love finding other Calgary bloggers) and I can really relate to this post. It’s hard to let fun-sounding freelance projects pass you by! I often have to remind myself to maintain some sort of work-life balance and really question if I have enough time available achieve the quality that I want